A summary history from 1700 to the 20th century, with examples of major paintings, and links to each of the detailed articles in this series.
Barry
For 20 years, Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery tried to establish an English School of History Painting. Or was it just a ploy to make money from prints?
Suppressed by the Reformation, narrative painting didn’t really get going in Britain until the early 18th century, but made up for lost time.
As the tragedy moves relentlessly to the deaths of most of its characters, paintings by William Blake, Ford Madox Brown, and Benjamin West tells its story.
Some of the greatest figurative artists including Botticelli, Titian, Poussin, Boucher, Ingres, Moreau, and Joseph Stella.
Blake did not exercise his genius and vision in isolation. Here are some paintings by those who influenced him most.
Just because his paintings appear so original and different, that doesn’t mean that they don’t borrow from and refer to other visual art.
The Eclectic Light Company 